(Image source: Geeky Gadgets)
BY TRACY PFEIFFER
ANCHOR CHRISTINA HARTMAN
You're watching multisource tech news analysis from Newsy.
Tech company HP might have just killed off its webOS for phones and tablets -- but its TouchPad tab is flying off the shelves -- at $300 off.
Now priced at a mere $99-- the TouchPad is selling out at places like BestBuy, which initially told HP it wanted to send back its entire stock of the tablet. (Video: CNET)
The company says it will reimburse consumers who purchased the TouchPad before the sale.
But a writer for Forbes says -- even though it sounds like a great bargain -- there’s a reason they’ve gutted the price.
“Don’t do it. That’s because tablets are all about apps. There are just few hundred apps available for the TouchPad... A few months from now ... people will be talking about a new game or a new application. If you’ve got Apple’s iPad or an Android tablet ... it’s probably going to cost you just 99 cents to get it. If you’ve only got a TouchPad, you’re going to have to buy a whole new tablet.”
A blogger for ZDNet says -- ultimately, the firesale will damage HP’s reputation with retailers.
“Some outlets went with HP’s liquidation pricing right away. Others chose to sit out the sale. Best Buy flip flopped. Amazon pulled out. In any case, HP will have to cover retailers on inventory and costs, but no future product launch from the company will be looked at the same way again. Killing the TouchPad in a mere seven weeks will be remembered for a long time.”
Finally -- when it comes to other tablet manufacturers -- a writer for PCWorld says, the TouchPad selloff will be harmful to the industry as a whole.
“...the impact will be less severe for a tablet maker selling 9 million units a quarter, like Apple, than those selling 500,000 a quarter, like Samsung or Research In Motion. ...While consumers may benefit from those ‘everything must go’ prices in the short run, in the long run, they may be contributing to hurting competition ... and furthering Apple's dominance of the market.”
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